After 4 Years... I Quit.

Morior Invictis·Apr 10, 2015·1 votes·893 views

I'm beyond frustrated with a ranking system that only rewards based on how your team performs as a whole.

I get that this is a team game. I have no problem playing as part of a team. With that said, you should not be judged solely on how someone else plays. My last two games in particular have shown me that this game is no longer something I want to invest my time in. I have dominated lane, roamed to save the other lanes (who were obviously losing as is normal in solo queue) and worked to help shot-call so we can either push our advantage or make-up the deficit. Nothing works.

After reaching Diamond on an alternate account last season, I thought that being up with higher ranked players would make the experience more enjoyable but I was wrong. I got rid of the account, took a break and started fresh.

To be completely honest, when I first started this game, people considered Bronze to be "Elo Hell". I completely disagree. In Bronze, if you don't belong there, you can carry yourself out because there is such a stark contrast between the skill level of yourself and the other people in the game. The problem is that once you reach Platinum and Diamond, the contrast between players is much smaller. There is a notable difference when watching a Platinum and Diamond playing, but it is significantly harder to carry a team when the cap is so small.

So why does Riot insist that a ranked system should only reward players based on a win/loss? Part of the frustration with this game has always been AFK'ers/Disconnects/Ragers. Why are they such a problem? Because not only does it limit the enjoyability of the game, but it hurts people's ranking when one or two people decide they don't want to focus on winning anymore. Why can I not play objectively really well and above my rank, lose, but still receive a minor reward (or at least less of a loss)?

Ultimately, I play this game because I enjoy it as a competitive outlet. Many of you will probably think that I should take it less seriously, or maybe I'm just "not as good as I think I am" or "need to carry harder". My point is that I shouldn't need to carry 4 other people so hard to get small rewards.

I have spent a lot of time on this game, and a bit of my own money for cosmetics. But after playing since Season 1, I am just not ready to spend any more time playing a game competitively that doesn't reward their players based on the players skill level, opposed to the entire teams.

Thanks for listening.

-Morior Invictis

13 Comments

Volt CruelerzApr 10, 20152 votes

The problem with grading individuals is that there are so many things that are hard to quantify. That's why MMR is based on your wins and losses. Over the long haul, it will inevitably converge on your skill level as you are the only consistent thing in all those games.

Morior InvictisApr 10, 20151 votes

I used to believe this. Its simply not necessarily true. I've dropped 4 divisions in the last two weeks while still playing quite well (most of the time). Everyone has off games, but I'm losing games where I am 15/3/10 and have played a (nearly) perfect game. Why do I lose those games? Because top rage quit because our ADC stole his farm, because our Jungle bought his account and is dying 1v1 to the enemy support, because our mid never connected.

I get that the game is designed that "over a period of games" you will fall where you should be, but that isn't a mindset that should be the goal of a successful game. Player's should be ranked on their abilities, not the abilities of whatever random players they get paired with.

DrCyanideApr 10, 20152 votes

I'm losing games where I am 15/3/10 and have played a (nearly) perfect game. Why do I lose those games? Because top rage quit because our ADC stole his farm, because our Jungle bought his account and is dying 1v1 to the enemy support, because our mid never connected.

And this is a perfect reason why you don't want it to be individual based. A 15/3/10 support (the only position left for you to be playing) is doing something wrong.

Additionally, the clutch support play where you kept your teammate alive isn't measurable to a computer system (it will always wonder if it was clutch or not). The time when you died so the team could get away is likewise not measurable. The computer can't tell what you implied from that split second your ward saw the enemy before it timed out and reward you for placing it.

Ultimately, it sounds like you want to get a five man team together.

DrNovaApr 10, 20151 votes

Thats not even true though. Things dont fall into averages. They are inevitably one one side of the spectrum or another to varing degrees. The average is just the middle ground between both ends of the spectrum, it by no means means everyone will settle there.

For example. Take the same player, split him into 5 copies, and let each play 100 games. Assuming the copies all contain the same skill level, you will still get a rather random spread between where they all end up, based on many outside factors people like to pretend dont exist. Yes, your the one constant factor, but your still a small part of a much larger mechanism. Your ability to influence said larger picture is alot more limited then people on these forums will admit.

Volt CruelerzApr 10, 20151 votes

Yes, binomial distributions take forever to converge, but converge they inevitably do. I will grant that in a game where you're only one tenth of the outcome of the game, it will take longer to converge on you than Elo in something like chess.

Ultimately the only thing that matters is whether you win or lose, not your KDA, not your CS, not your clutch plays. If you generally win, then clearly you're doing something right. Now, if you can come up with a surefire way to account for an individual's performance regardless of what role they play or how the meta will evolve in the future then you should probably email it to Riot. In the absence of such a method, the existing system is best.

DrNovaApr 10, 20151 votes

Its been stated plenty of times before that all the system needs is tweaking. LP gains and losses are based wins and losses in relation to the other teams MMR, exactly how im not completely sure.

However, a player can do well over the course of a few matches and still lose them all when put on teams with feeders, afks, other trolls, or just bad players. And you would get brutalized in LP losses based soley on the fact you lost. Wins and gains in LP should at least in some small part correlate to actual performance. KDA ratios, cs over timeframes, participation in objectives taken, anything.

Riot doesnt have to tell everyone how exactly they do it, which would prevent "lp" farming, however i dont even think that would happen, a loss is still losing lp, better to try to win then just lose less lp, or whats the point of playing.

Either way, it would be a help to players who probably deserve to be in a little better division, and give them a better chance to make gains and get around players who they can improve playing with vs just getting frustrated and taking an unreasonably long amount of time just to finally get a promo on occasion.

If you do well personally, you should get a softened lp loss. Conversley, if you do poorly but get carried, you should get a weaker lp gain. In my opinion anyways.

AmelieApr 10, 20152 votes

League can never reward people on an individual level (or at least not 100% accurately) because there's way too many factors to consider. I think the mentality of "I have to carry my team" is what brings a lot of people down. Especially with all of the changes they've made in this season. One person simply CAN'T CARRY their entire team by themselves. Unless the enemy is significantly weaker, which probably won't happen in plat/diamond.

If you got to plat/diamond then obviously something worked, because most people can't make it to that level. If you want to be rewarded for your personal skill level, you are better off playing a single player game which can actually rank you properly. Otherwise play League for fun, or just play normals or dominion or some other mode. You don't have to compete so much or be so hard on yourself.

0115D8CFApr 10, 20151 votes

get a team and play ranked 5s (or 3s!) or get into chess or something...

BluePolarizerApr 10, 20151 votes

so I don't know if you have realized this yet, but solo queue is not supposed to be the way to play the game competitively. Real competitors (pros who get paid) don't play solo queue for anything other than stomping for fun. They play ranked 5's, which involve a whole new layer of strategy.

KMannnnn1Apr 10, 20151 votes

Pros play solo queue to practice when they aren't scrimming against other pro teams. High ranked solo queue is different from tournament play to be sure, but solo queue is the best way to play a lot of games in a row and get a variety of different opponents.

Solo queue can be just as competitive at higher ranks, even if people don't get paid for it.

Morior InvictisApr 10, 20152 votes

I completely disagree. Solo queue was designed to be the competitive queue for players that didn't have the time, connections or interest in playing with 4 other people on a regular basis.

Just because 5's has another level of strategy doesn't mean Solo Queue is any less competitive.

GaleWinUnleashedApr 10, 20151 votes

The biggest problem is that offering rewards (or lesser punishments) for doing extremely well but losing anyway takes away focus from the teamplay aspect of the game. It would offer motivation to just work on keeping your own stats high, regardless of what the team needs from you in order to win. Games would deteriorate quickly into boring stalemates because no one would be willing to take risks, for fear of damaging their LP gains. Players would strive only to do as well as possible on an individual basis, and many amazing opportunities for team coordination would be ignored for the sake of KDA.

BeoridasApr 10, 20151 votes

Lets not forget the huge amount of bugs in the games. ults that goes thru ppl and deal no dmg, hit boxes that seems larger than the baron, hooks and CCs not being applied even tho its a direct hit. Lags and major fps drop almost every game. random dmg or effects being applied when nothing is going on. or WAY after its been applied.